by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on March 20, 2009
In my last post I discussed spray foam insulation in the walls and ceiling. The same technique was used for the floor. Here’s what the floor looked like after framing but before the insulation was applied:
Here’s the floor after applying the insulation:
Yes, it looks just like the walls look. The foam insulation does dry solid, but it is full of tiny air pockets, so you don’t want to walk on it, since you will likely compress the air pockets and lower the insulation value. That’s why we applied the plywood floor as soon as possible:
Yes, this picture also shows the drywall on the walls, but that’s the subject of my next post.
Tagged as:
Floor,
Insulation
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on March 13, 2009
Now that the framing is done, it’s time for the insulation. Insulation is critical, since the goal is to maintain a constant temperature in the basement wine cellar. The better the insulation, the less variation in temperature, and therefore the less effort required by the cooling unit to keep the wine cellar at a constant temperature.
There are many different opinions on the proper insulation technique. One school of thought says that you should install a vapor barrier (a plastic sheet) on the outer side of the wall, and then mount your fiberglass insulation, and then your walls. A vapor barrier is essential to keep moisture from forming in the wine cellar or behind the walls.
We decided to use a different approach: spray foam insulation. The insulation is applied as a liquid, and expands as a foam, and then hardens as a “solid”. Our contractor blew the the foam into place, smoothed it out, and let it harden.
This approach has a number of advantages.
First, it’s relatively quick. The entire job can be done easily in half a day. If you were to install a plastic vapor barrier, then cut and install fiberglass insulation, and fasten it into place, the job would take much longer. You may be able to simply push the fiberglass into place in the walls, but gravity won’t allow you to do that in the ceiling; fastening is necessary. With spray foam, it’s quick and it’s done. Here’s how it looks in the ceiling.
Second, since the foam dries hard, there is no need for a separate vapor barrier. Fiberglass insulation will retain water if it gets wet, so a vapor barrier is essential. With “solid” insulation, water cannot penetrate, so a separate vapor barrier is not necessary.
Finally, as you can see with the ceiling picture, foam is great for filling in every “nook and cranny” in a ceiling or wall with wires, pipes and other impediments. Fiberglass insulation will not fit as tightly.
Therefore, my vote is for spray foam insulation.
Tagged as:
Insulation
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on March 6, 2009
In my previous posts I discussed the framing of the wine cellar walls and framing the wine cellar floor, but I have not mentioned framing the ceiling. I have not mentioned it because in my construction I am converting a room in the basement, so there is already a ceiling (the floor of the upper floor).
Framing is not necessary, since the floor joists that hold up the upper floor will serve as the area to attach the drywall, and to put the insulation.
As you can see from this picture, our house has various electrical wires, gas lines and plumbing running through the joists. It is necessary to review what’s there, and determine if anything needs to be moved before you proceed. In our case it was possible to frame around everything, so no major moving was necessary.
One final question to ask yourself: Will I ever need to access this area, or run additional wires? In the picture you can see four grey cables taped in a bundle; those are the cables from our television satellite dish. Once the ceiling is constructed, they will be inaccessible. If you think you will ever need to run wires through the ceiling in the future, you could consider running a conduit through the ceiling before you close it.
A conduit is simply empty plastic pipe, open at both ends, so that you can easily run wires through it. I suggest running rope from one end of the conduit to the other, so that you can pull your wires through it in the future. In our case it wasn’t necessary.
Tagged as:
Ceiling
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on February 27, 2009
As the framing of the wine cellar walls was completed, framing was also done on the wine cellar floor. Why frame the floor as well? The entire wine cellar must be a completely enclosed room.
Framing and insulating the walls and ceiling is a good start, but if the wine cellar has as it’s base an uninsulated basement floor, the cold from the ground will gradually enter the wine cellar, so that the floor is much colder than the ceiling, and that’s not good. Obviously moisture can also enter from the ground. We framed the floor using the same method as used for framing the walls.
You may wonder why the wine cellars of 200 years ago could be constructed without the elaborate need for framing and insulation, including insulating the floor. Insulation would not be necessary if the wine cellar was built well below the frost line, where temperatures remain constant. In southern Ontario and the north eastern United States the ground may freeze to a depth of two or three feet in the winter, so the ceiling of an uninsulated wine cellar would need to be at least five feet underground, so the floor of the wine cellar would be 12 to 15 feet underground.
A typical basement in a typical house has windows at around ground level, so the floor of a typical basement may be only five or six feet underground, so most of the basement is at or near the frost line. If left uninsulated temperatures will vary considerably, and that’s not good. Therefore, insulation is essential, and to insulate, framing it a must.
Tagged as:
framing floor
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on February 20, 2009
Once we decided on the dimensions for the wine cellar, the next step was to get started. We took an existing basement room and gutted it. Then, the next step is to frame the walls and floor.
Framing is a relatively straight forward task. A frame is built (we used 2 x 4’s) to serve two functions: it will hold the drywall, and it will hold the insulation. Here’s how the wall looks after framing:
You will notice that the framing is applied directly to the exterior basement wall. We have not installed any vapor barrier. More about that to in subsequent posts.
The existing interior wall is also framed (it already existed; we simply removed the existing drywall):
Tagged as:
framing
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on February 12, 2009
In my last post I discussed wine cellar dimensions, and answered the question: How big should I build my wine cellar? We discussed the factors to consider, including your budget, space availability, and expected storage needs. So, how big did I go?
I decided on a basement wine cellar measuring approximately 10 feet by 7 feet. It was an easy decision, because we took an existing closet and converted it into a wine cellar, so the size was pre-determined.
Our basement has a support beam, so the left hand side of the wine cellar in the above diagram has a height of six feet; the rest of the cellar is just over seven feet tall. Racking will go around the walls, except of course where the door will go. The cooling unit also reduces racking space, which we will discuss once that is installed. The racking is not here yet, but I expect to be able to store around 1,200 bottles on the exterior walls, which should be more than sufficient for my needs.
Tagged as:
dimensions
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on February 6, 2009
Once the decision is made to build a basement wine cellar, and once you have decided on the perfect basement wine cellar location, the next decision is: how big? Of course we all know that “bigger is better”, but with wine cellars that is not always the case.
The bigger the wine cellar, the larger the cost, for construction, racking, and operating costs (since it costs more to cool a large space than a small space). To determine the perfect size, consider three factors:
1 Your budget. What can you afford? If you only have a few hundred dollars to spend, you will be doing all of the work yourself, and your wine cellar will be passively cooled, since you probably can’t afford a cooling unit. Your best option may be to buy a stand-alone wine fridge or cooler. The larger your budget, the larger your cellar. Start by adding up the costs for the cooling unit, racking, and construction costs, and then set your budget based on what you can afford.
2 Available space. If you are converting a corner of your basement, the size decision may already be made for you. If you are building a new house or building, you have more flexibility in deciding on your wine cellar dimensions.
3 Your expected storage needs. How much wine do you expect to consume? How long do you expect to store your wine? If you consume, on average, 100 bottles per year, and you want to store your wine for an average of five years, a 500 bottle wine cellar is sufficient. If you consume more than that, or if you want to have bottles laying down for a longer time, you will need more space. Start by determining your consumption over the last year, and use that as a guide for projecting future requirements. If at most you need storage for 1,000 bottles, there is nothing to be gained by building a 5,000 bottle cellar.
It is important to realize that too big is as bad as too small. Even if you have unlimited money, building a 5,000 bottle capacity wine cellar to house 1,000 is not wise. The cooling unit will be most efficient if the wine cellar is close to full. Each full bottle holds the temperature, so the more bottles, the more consistent the temperature. (It is easier to keep your refrigerator temperature consistent if it’s full of food; and empty refrigerator is not energy efficient).
Of course building a 500 bottle cellar only to realize you need a 2,000 bottle capacity is also inefficient, since you will need to demolish and start again, which is costly.
So, before you start construction, estimate your needs, and your space availability and budget, and plan accordingly.
Tagged as:
Planning
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on January 30, 2009
Once I decided to build a home wine cellar, the next issue is location: where do you build it? The best environment to store wine is a cool, dark place with minimum temperature fluctuations. In the old days that meant a cellar, underground, well below the frost line. If you have a room twenty feet underground, that’s dry and easily accessible, that should do nicely.
Unfortunately I didn’t have a room like that, and I had no desire to spend a huge amount of money excavating to build it, so the next best option is to find a suitable room in your house. Here’s what you want to look for:
- The coolest part of the house, which generally means the basement. Hot air rises, so obviously the basement is the coolest area in the house. Cool is important, since you want to store wine at something in the area of 14 degrees Celsius (57°F), so the closer your room is to that temperature, the better.
- The coolest area of the basement. Depending on where you live, you want to pick the area of the basement that is NOT on the side of your house that gets the hot afternoon sun, which warms the ground and the basement.
- A room free of vibration; you want your wine to remain still. It therefore is not wise to store wine directly beside your rumbling furnace or air conditioning unit.
- A room with no windows is essential. Light is then enemy when storing wine. Red wine ships in dark green glass to keep out ultraviolet light, so a dark room is essential. Bright light also creates heat, which is to be avoided.
For me, the solution was obvious. We converted an old closet at the far corner of our basement for the perfect wine storage area. The room is at the opposite end of the basement to where our furnace is, so vibrations are eliminated, and it’s at the coolest part of the house, and there are no windows.
Tagged as:
location
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on January 23, 2009
Why did I decide to build a home wine cellar? I have posted my detailed thoughts on the Why Build a Wine Cellar page, but there is one main reason: convenience. There are many other reasons, such as the ability to buy wine while it is young and inexpensive so that you can consume it when it is mature and more valuable, but for me, convenience is the number one reason for building a basement wine cellar.
I don’t know what we will be having for dinner next week, so if I don’t have a ready wine supply in the cellar it’s difficult to know what I should buy in advance. With an in home wine cellar, I can select a wine from my inventory five minutes before we sit down to eat. It will already be chilled and ready to go. (White wines may require further chilling, and old red wines may require decanting, but you get the idea: the wine is there when I need it). That’s convenient.
If we need a bottle to bring to a dinner party, or a bottle to give as a gift, they are there and ready to go. Convenience.
If we have guests and we polish off a bottle of wine and everyone raves about it, not problem, I have more of that exact wine in the cellar. I grab another bottle and off we go.
So, if convenience is important to you, storing wine at home is the way to go.
Tagged as:
convenience
by Basement Wine Cellar Guy on January 16, 2009
Welcome to basement-wine-cellar.com, my blog about building a basement wine cellar. Check back often for updates on the planning, building, and drinking process.